


The Long Road Home

by spirithorse



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: M/M, Tainted AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-20
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-08-16 09:56:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8097715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spirithorse/pseuds/spirithorse
Summary: It was his fault that Mikleo had become tainted and it was his fault that he hadn’t been able to quell Mikleo from the start.





	1. Holding On

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on my tumblr for a while, so I decided to throw it up here. Idea was originally taken from [talesofsymphoniac's](https://talesofsymphoniac.tumblr.com/) prompt: "Tainted AU where Mikleo becomes a drake (therefore we get the angst of him becoming a full dragon but with the possibility of him still being purified)."

Sorey ran his hand over the column, trying to find the seam. It was highly improbable that the builders had made the huge thing from one stone. The area was nothing but rolling fields as far as the eye could see. He hadn’t been able to see any stone like the ones that the columns were made of, which meant that it had to have been brought to this place. If so, then it would be hard to drag such a large stone over the hilly terrain. But he couldn’t see the seams of the column, which made it hard to believe that it was broken up into separate drums before being assembled.

He shook his head and took a step back, looking at the sagging portico. He doubted that it had been made with seraphic artes. It was too new, definitely after the time that the resonance of the population had fallen. And he doubted that any seraphs had settled in the area, the temple was alone in its field for reasons that Sorey just didn’t know. There was a possibility that there was another civilization around, but he hadn’t seen it on his way in and it was unlikely that he’d have the time to seek it out. 

The two of them had already stayed for far too long in the area. While it was free of the hazy fog of malevolence that loomed over cities and towns, a few hellions would still roam through, although they were gone now too. Sorey hadn’t seen it happen and he actively tried to stop the hunts, but it was hard when Mikleo got the idea into his head that he was hungry and he had to eat _now_. There was nothing much Sorey could do when faced with an annoyed and restless drake.

He sighed and turned away from the ruin, easily picking out Mikleo in the long grass of the field. It was hard for the drake to hide in the grasslands with his white and blue coloration, but that made things easier for him. 

He’d made the mistake of allowing Mikleo to slide into a river once, and the drake had just disappeared. Sorey had spent a week trying to find him only for Mikleo to come sneaking back into camp, soaked in malevolence.

Sorey hadn’t questioned what Mikleo had done while he was away. He hadn’t wanted to know. But deep bodies of water had been added to the list of things that he would have to avoid in the future along with pockets of malevolence.

He watched as Mikleo finished picking at the scales around the edges of his talons, not sure if the feeling rolling in his stomach was relief or worry as he saw a few scales flake off. On one hand, it meant that Mikleo wasn’t absorbing as much malevolence anymore, which meant that he could be kept at a manageable size and strength. On the other, it was obviously painful to the drake, which was something that Sorey didn’t want.

It was his fault that Mikleo had become tainted and it was his fault that he hadn’t been able to quell Mikleo from the start.

He’s given it his best try when he’d found Mikleo outside the Tintagel Ruins after Glaivend Basin, but he hadn’t been strong enough. He couldn’t handle the drake’s shrieks of pain. The most he could do was take Mikleo away from everything that he could hurt and all the malevolence that could pull the drake too far out of his control. After that, he could just hope that Rose could gain the strength to purify Mikleo, because Sorey was starting to doubt that he could do it himself. 

Months of worry and indirectly being Mikleo’s vessel himself were starting to take their toll. There was a knot of malevolence in himself, one that he couldn’t quite shake and one that he was afraid to. It would be simple to just walk away and leave Mikleo’s domain and the constant struggle against the drake’s malevolence, but that would mean leaving Mikleo to do whatever his instincts told him. Sorey wasn’t sure that the distance would help, not when he knew what Mikleo would do.

He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension there. It was a constant, just like the exhaustion that pulled at him. 

Sorey trudged back over to where his pack rested beside Mikleo. The drake gave him a quick glance before snorting and lifting his head away from his talons. Sorey watched Mikleo scan the area around the ruins, the drake probably looking for more hellions. There were days where Mikleo’s hunger seemed to be unending, probably because Sorey purposely kept him starved for more malevolence, an act that hurt him just as much as it hurt Mikleo.

He expected Mikleo to come to the same conclusion the drake had after all his other searches, not for the drake to tense. Mikleo’s head went still, Sorey watching as the drake’s nostrils flared.

Mikleo lifted his head higher, scenting at something before he stood up. The drake took a step forward, his wings falling slightly open as he moved.

Sorey pulled the pack onto his shoulder as he walked to Mikleo’s head, staring off in the same direction the drake was. He closed his hands more tightly around the straps when he saw the purple haze that had attracted Mikleo’s attention.

He hadn’t know that they had wandered so close to a battle, but it was hard to tell where they were now. Without a steady source of information, he had no idea where Hyland and Rolance were fighting. All he knew was that it seemed like the armies were everywhere, all of them pockets of malevolence to avoid. 

Sorey swallowed and took a step back, ignoring the small part of him that delighted in the sight of malevolence. He couldn’t give into that, at least not all at once. If he did, then there would be no turning back. If he did that, then he would have killed Mikleo just as much as Rose would have to.

He adjusted the pack on his back, purposefully turning away from the rising malevolence. “We should get moving.”

Sorey took a few steps before he realized that the drake wasn’t following him. He turned around, taking a few steps backward as he watched Mikleo.

The drake was rooted in place, his head jerking from side to side as whatever was in the cloud of malevolence attracted his attention. 

Sorey stopped, watching as the drake stretched his wings out. “Mikleo!”

There was a pause before Mikleo responded. The drake leaned towards the malevolence before he shook his head and turned around. Sorey didn’t miss the way the drake dragged his feet through the grass, but that was nothing compared to the relief that came from knowing that Mikleo would still respond to him. 

He opened his arms as Mikleo came closer, sighing as the drake nudged against his chest. There would be a day when Mikleo didn’t respond to his name or his true name. Sorey could only hope that Rose would be ready by then.

He wrapped his arms around Mikelo’s muzzle, holding onto him as long as the drake would allow. Even then it was hard for him to let Mikleo go. It was tempting to just hold the drake close instead of just resting his hands against Mikleo’s muzzle, but it was something he was used to. Everything was a careful balancing act with the drake because Mikleo was anything but tame. Sorey wasn’t even sure if it was habit or some little spark of Mikleo that was left that made the drake listen to him, but he didn’t want to test that.

Sorey settled for rubbing under Mikleo’s jaw, keeping up the motion until he saw Mikleo’s eyes slide shut and he heard the rumble of contentment. He smiled and leaned forward to kiss the side of the drake’s face. “Let’s get away from here.”

He dropped his hand from Mikleo’s face, turning to start walking away from the battle. This time, he could hear Mikleo trailing after him. Sorey sighed with relief and led the drake further out into the empty plains.


	2. Letting Go

Sorey tipped his hand, letting the loose scales rattle down into his waiting hand. He watched the flow of them, all of them dull in the light. He waited until they were all in his left hand before switching his hands and repeating the motion.

Mikleo had lost the scales sometime in the night. Sorey had woken up to piles of them scattered all over the floor, most of them close to doorways where Mikleo could use the frames to scratch them off. The drake had even forgone his usually standoffish behavior to beg scratches from Sorey, something that he had been glad to give. He wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but it seemed to be the only thing that seemed to ease the itch other than lying in the pools of water that were scattered around the Mabinogio Ruins.

He closed his fingers around the fall of scales, staring down at the ones in the palm of his hand. 

He understood why Lailah and Rose had insisted on coming back to Elysia to try and quell the two of them. Neither of them knew how strong Mikleo was, and Sorey didn’t either. Practically a year and a half of keeping Mikleo on the move had accustomed him to how Mikleo’s domain felt. Sorey actually wasn’t sure where his domain ended and Mikleo’s began.

What he was sure about was that Mikleo wasn’t in any danger of becoming a fully fledged dragon, even with their panicked run through Glaivend Basin. Sorey hadn’t meant to lead them through that area, but the continuing battles between Rolance and Hyland had funneled them through the battlefield. Sorey had crossed it at a run, screaming every iteration of Mikleo’s name to keep the drake moving. 

At least in Elysia he knew that the two of them were safe. Aside from their own malevolence, there was almost nothing to tempt Mikleo away. There was something towards the deepest part of the ruin, something that Sorey had been drawn to when the two of them had first taken up residence, but it was strangled muffled and sealed off.

He tipped his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. Most of the ruin was sealed off now too, Gramps and the other seraphs making sure that the two of them didn’t escape. He could feel the seals now, Gramps with his warning of danger and lightning if pressed against and the others with varying degrees of softness to them. But none of them would break, he had followed Mikleo around as the drake had tested them. The two of them were stuck until they were quelled. And if they couldn’t be…

Sorey shook his head. That had been the whole point to this, to walking away from his duties of the Shepherd and leaving it to his squire. It was his fault that Mikleo was a drake in the first place.

If he hadn’t let the fighting at Glaivend Basin get to him… If he hadn’t decided to try and defeat Heldalf…

He jumped as someone touched his shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Rose crouched in front of him. Sorey let the scales fall out of his hands, absently brushing them off his pants. “Is it time?”

Rose nodded, her gaze darting to the scales and then back to his face. “You look like you’re about to fall over.”

“It’s a good thing I’m sitting then.” Sorey laughed, a little uncertainly. 

He wasn’t surprised when none of the others laughed, they all looked completely serious. He glanced over the group, noting the presence of an unfamiliar water seraph before his gaze settled on Kyme.

Kyme nodded at him before taking a step back away from Rose and the seraphs. “I’m just here to hold the seal around you and your squire.”

Sorey nodded slowly. It was a smart plan. Mikleo was currently elsewhere in the ruins. He didn’t know if the drake would rush to his rescue, but it wasn’t worth the chance that things could go wrong.

He pushed himself up from the floor, bracing himself against the wall for a moment. “Okay. Let’s finish this.”

He felt Kyme’s seal settle around them, a flash of power and the smell of rain on the wind. Then it was done, Sorey taking the time to look at Rose and the seraphs. He had no intention of fighting, even if the knot of malevolence inside of him recoiled at the seal and the presence of all of them. The more important thing was to focus on his dream, a world where seraphim and humans could live in peace. Wandering around the world with Mikleo wouldn’t get him that dream, nor would the continuing war.

Sorey met Lailah’s gaze as she stepped up beside Rose. She smiled kindly at him before resting a hand on Rose’s shoulder.

Rose nodded and met Sorey’s gaze as she spoke. “Fethmus Mioma.”

* * *

He hissed at the seraph in front of him, rising onto his hind legs to claw at the barrier. Lightning flashed from the barrier and drove him back, just like it had every other time. He roared in pain and rage, spreading his wings as wide as he could. But the seraph didn’t flinch, nor did any of the others standing behind him.

He snarled at all of them and went back to his circling. It was all he could do since the barrier didn’t extend too far. He was allowed four steps into the ruins and three back outside.

The confinement was maddening because all he wanted to do was stretch his wings. He wanted to get away from the place that made him itch until he scratched his scales off. He wanted to fly, to hunt. So many seraphs so close made it nearly impossible to resist them. It was more than enough encouragement to charge the barrier again. The seraphs couldn’t keep it up forever, and he had desperation on his side. He hadn’t eaten in a week, and then nothing more than two hellions in the midst of the great cloud of malevolence.

He paused in his pacing, lifting his head to try and search for it. He was too high up to see it, but he could feel it. It was the first place he was going to go after he was free. There he could feed and _grow_.

He tipped his head back to roar, rearing up on his hind legs to try and scrape at the top of the barrier. 

It shocked him away again. He dropped back down, swinging his head to look at the seraph.

The seraph was speaking to him, but he couldn’t understand the words. They sounded like how his person would talk to him, endless words that meant nothing interspersed with the one that still had meaning. 

He shook his head, snarling with the seraph didn’t stop talking. The snarl didn’t seem to deter the seraph either. He watched the seraph for a moment more before whipping his head around to scratch at the edge of his wing.

He bit along the edge, digging his teeth in as deeply as he could to try and chase after the itch. It didn’t matter that scales fell on the ground or into his mouth, he would have the time to grow them back. As soon as he escaped he would fly to where there was food and safety. Then there would be a chance for them to grow back and he would have his armor again, not just patches of bare skin along his sides.

He released his wing, trying to work the scales off of his tongue. Even in his hunger he wouldn’t eat them. They sat badly on his stomach, too tough to work through.

He dropped his face to the ground, rubbing it against the dirt to clear the scales from it and satisfy the growing itch there. He shook himself as he pulled away, hearing the rattle of more scales falling away as he did so. He snorted and kicked the scales away, disgusted by them.

He was considering rolling onto his back and rubbing it against the dirt and rocks that he was allowed when there was a scream from inside the ruins. He cocked his head, listening as it echoed through the old structure. When it stopped, he sent out a questioning call of his own, but nothing answered. 

It was a strange occurrence because things usually called back, either the other creatures like him or the one who had been traveling with him.

He stood still, listening for any noise from the ruins. When none came, he inched closer to the edge of his barrier and repeated the sound.

The call echoed through the ruins but received no answer. 

He tipped his head from side to side, trying to direct sound more to one ear and then the other, but it didn’t help. The ruins were silent. 

Some strange sense told him that something was wrong. He had to get out of the barrier because something needed his attention. And it was urgent. 

He took two backwards steps, settling all of his weight on his haunches before lunging forward.

The barrier still shocked him, but that was of little importance. He had to get out and into the ruins even if it took him clawing his way through.

He roared and beat his wings against the barrier, smelling the acrid scent of something burning, but that was nothing. Not when he could sense the barrier twisting and altering. Some of the seals behind it were giving way, but they were always put back in time to strengthen the innermost barrier.

He turned around, leaping for the other side of the barrier. He clawed down the front, watching as the seraphs flinched back, but the barrier held. He shrieked his frustration to the sky and kept at it, ignoring the lightning and the shouts from the seraphs as he tried to barge his way through.

He kept at the barrier until it became too much. He slid down the side of it, his lip curling up as he noticed the seraphs rushing for him. He wasn’t done yet, he was just tired. The hunger was roiling loudly in his belly again, his limb shaking as he tried to gather the strength for another attempt. 

Surely it had been enough to weaken them, which meant his next attempt would free him. As soon as that happened, he would duck into the ruins for whatever called him and then he would be free.

He dropped his head to the ground, his attention distracted from the seraphs as another group came out of the ruin. Only a few of them were seraphs and he eyed them carefully. Four of them split off and came to the edge of the barrier, but he dismissed them when they didn’t move. His attention was more useful on the seraph carrying something in his arms. 

He watched the seraph move past, perking up as he finally got a good look at it. He recognized it as his person, the who had been with him for as long as he could remember. The person who had the one word that meant everything. 

He stumbled to his feet, walking over to the other side of the barrier so he could pace alongside the seraph. 

Something was obviously wrong, because his person should have been acknowledging him. They were always touching him, talking to him or scratching at itches he couldn’t reach. Instead, they were limp and still, like prey he had taken down.

He was forced to stop by the barrier, but he watched the seraph take the person away. The seraph walked back through the forest and towards the top of the mountain. He spread his wings before he could stop himself. He couldn’t fly out of the barrier, but that didn’t mean that the urge was easy to shake off. He was curious and something else, a feeling that was almost wary.

He stared after the seraph until he couldn’t see the seraph or his person. He would have gone on staring, except that he felt the barrier waver.

He turned, ready to spring for the weak point when he saw a human and four seraphs enter. The barrier contorted and twisted to let them pass, but it didn’t fragment.

He stared at the group in front of him, opening up his jaws. The seraphs smelled good, and far better than the few mouthfuls that he had managed to snap up on the way over. Fed, he might be able to break through the barrier and finally be free.

He shifted in place, curling defensively around himself. With five it would be hard to hunt on his own, and he missed his person. His person had never helped him hunt, but he had never gotten hurt with his person around.

One of the seraphs spoke the one word with meaning, the word bringing him up short. He stared at the seraph, trying to figure out what they meant before he pushed the urge aside. If he waited for too long, his prey would leave and he wouldn’t get the chance to escape.

He dropped into a crouch, glancing around all five of them before deciding on his first strike. He would go for the oldest, the one that smelled of fire and stood by the human. He tensed, taking a moment to center himself before he sprung.

* * *

Sorey woke to the sound of hushed voices talking. He pressed his face against the pillow, nuzzling into it as he woke up.

He still felt a little woozy and sore from where he had probably hit the ground. He couldn’t remember much about the quelling, but he remembered falling forward as it was finished. Compared to the lightness that he felt through him, the ache from the fall was nothing. It was like the tense string that he had become while looking after Mikleo had finally snapped, and not in a catastrophic way. He could breathe again without the pulse of malevolence in his own self reminding him of just how many things could go wrong.

He pushed himself upright, blinking in surprise when he realized that he was in his own home. Sorey looked around, surprised to see how neatly things had been put back considering how quickly he had left before. All the books were back on their shelf and the fire was carefully tended in the fireplace.

Sorey shifted, about to swing his legs over the side of the bed when someone moved in the main room. 

Lailah came around the fireplace, pausing on the step that led down into his bedroom. She clasped her hands in front of her, her smile wide. “Sorey! You shouldn’t be up yet.”

She was probably trying to chide him, but her voice didn’t carry the tone. She looked too relieved to see him. Her hands twisted in front of her, like she didn’t know what to do with them. After a moment of hovering, she finally shook her head. “Did we wake you?”

Sorey shook his head, using the chance to lean out to see who else was in the room. He smiled as he saw Gramps sitting by the fire, the old seraph’s pipe resting easily in his hand. 

Gramps looked over at him, giving him a mock stern look. “Back to bed with you, young man.”

Sorey nodded. His mind was still slightly muzzy and everything felt a little too hot. It was close to how he had felt when he had first taken Lailah on as his Prime Lord, but without the fever.

He reached up to muffle a yawn, hearing Lailah chuckle to herself. He mumbled an apology into his hand, surprised when he turned his head and found that Lailah was beside his bed.

She rested a hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him back into bed. Sorey was sure that she would have tucked him in too if he hadn’t reached up to grab her wrist. Even partially muddled and half-asleep there was a pressing question. “Mikleo?”

“He’s fine.” Lailah guided his hand to the other side of the bed, settling it onto the rise of a shoulder. Sorey twisted his body to follow the motion, getting a glimpse of a puff of Mikleo’s hair that was sticking out from under the blanket. 

He sighed and smoothed his hand down Mikleo’s side, watching as his friend shifted, but Mikleo didn’t wake up.

Sorey scooted closer, draping his arm over Mikleo. It was so tempting to snuggle up against Mikleo’s back, but he held himself still. Sorey looked over the familiar slope of Mikleo’s body, slowly getting himself to focus again.

“The others?”

“Oh, they’re probably still sleeping too.” Lailah laughed at that, Sorey glad that he couldn’t hear any strain in her voice. “Mikleo gave us some trouble, but everything went well. Rose said something about sleeping for a thousand years.”

“Mm.” Sorey let himself slump back into bed, kicking his legs back under the covers as he tried to move closer to Mikleo. “Have to thank them.”

“Of course. They’ll be waiting when you wake up again.” He felt her hand pass across his forehead, Sorey not sure if she was brushing his hair out of the way or checking his temperature. “We’ll be keeping watch.”

Sorey was sure that he made some kind of noise to acknowledge her statement, but he wasn’t sure if it could be heard. He was being lulled to back to sleep by the familiar surroundings and the familiar curl of Mikleo’s body close by.

He managed to stay awake long enough to hear Lailah cross the room again and resume her conversation with Zenrus. Then, he tucked his face against the back of Mikleo’s neck and drifted off to sleep.


End file.
